


I swear, if I see one more cringeworthy White Rose fic...

by The_finest_pumpkins



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, no more tags for spoiler's sakes, the world needs more yang/pyrrha
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-28
Updated: 2018-08-03
Packaged: 2019-06-17 19:42:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15468630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_finest_pumpkins/pseuds/The_finest_pumpkins
Summary: White Rose modern AU, but with more magic and Yang/Pyrrha. It's also really bad, I'm mostly looking to improve my writing in general through criticism. Now edited to be a bit more legible.





	1. Chapter 1

Ruby Rose lay on her bed, headphones blaring over her ears, eyes pointed upwards at the slowly spinning ceiling fan, and arms wrapped tightly around a bright red hoodie. Yang was downstairs playing some game, and her father was at work. It wasn’t that she was necessarily having a bad day, or even being in an especially bad place. No, she was just going through a bit of anxiety. School would be starting soon, bringing with it the pressure of moving up two grades. What about the teachers? Would they baby her? Furthermore, she would be in the homeroom class of Ms. Fall, who had a notorious reputation among the seniors for being excessively sarcastic and cruel. Ruby knew that skipping from freshman to junior year could be all the material someone like that could need. With a sigh, she rose from her bed, figuring a jog couldn’t hurt to clear her thoughts.

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Weiss Schnee looked out of the window of Winter’s car. She was moving to Vale from Atlas, and getting a fresh start in life. It was going to be a more modest residence compared to where she came from. She would be going from the expected luxuries that came with being the daughter of the C.E.O. of the Schnee Energy Company to suburban life.

Patch was a nice town, Weiss supposed. Looking through the small rain droplets on the window, it was clearly in a heavily wooded part of Vale, and it was near a large mountain range. She would be transferring to school soon, which excited her more than it would any other teenager; she had never been to public school before. It had been private tutors her whole life, as well as business lessons from her father. The downside, Weiss supposed, was the prospect of starting out in general. While having friends her own age would be a delightful change of pace, it couldn’t possibly be that easy to make friends, especially when they’d probably already formed cliques over the years. Weiss opened the car door and looked around, only to see an adorable brunette about her age with a pixie cut and comically oversized red hoodie coming out the side of the house next door. 

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Upon leaving the door, Ruby was mildly surprised to see a car parked in the driveway next door. It occurred to her nearly immediately that the neighbors would be moving in today. She had seen movers taking furniture into the house. At any rate, she figured that she might as well help them bring in some luggage. The passenger door opened, revealing a girl about her age, with long white hair pulled into a ponytail angled off to one side. As she turned to look at Ruby, Ruby saw that a faint scar ran down her pointed face, which wore a nervous expression, pale blue eyes darting back and forth quickly. Quite frankly, she was beautiful. As Ruby walked over to the car, an older woman who looked nearly identical to Weiss (save for shorter hair pulled into a bun and somehow seeming more professional) got out of the driver’s side, and said to her, “I take it you live next door?”

Ruby replied as formally as she could, glancing over at Weiss briefly. “Yes, ma’am.”

Winter laughed politely. “Call me Winter. And you are?” Her voice trailed off.

“Ruby Rose.”

This whole time, Weiss had been thinking about Ruby. Close up, she could see that Ruby had an ocean of freckles adorning the bridge of her nose, and grey eyes that shone so brightly that they appeared silver. Ruby was smiling slightly, in a way that made Weiss want to smile. Her thoughts flew wildly through her head. 'Is she going to be in the same grade as me? Should I say something? Would she even want to be friends with me? She seems nice. She’s pretty as well, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves yet.' Weiss knew that she was herself gay, and was comfortable with this fact. But she didn’t want to immediately rush into a relationship. Besides, she didn’t even know anything about Ruby yet.

Ruby spoke again. “Do you guys need help carrying anything in?”

Winter formally replied, “No, everything heavy is already inside. All that’s left is some suitcases. But thank you for asking.”

Ruby turned to Weiss. “Um, I was just wondering, are you going to Signal High? Because if you are, you’re absolutely welcome to hang out with my friends and I.”

Winter went inside, a knowing grin on her face. Weiss wouldn’t have too much trouble moving in after all. Not with Ruby living next door. Hell, if Ruby was into girls, they might even get together. It would be good for Weiss to open up to someone her age, especially after everything she went through in Atlas. But more pressing matters were at hand.

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“The girl next door seems nice.”

“Yes, I’m looking forward to going to school with her." Winter and Weiss were talking as they sat on the new leather couch, drinking coffee.

“Did you talk to her after I went inside?”

“For a minute or two, and then her sister called her inside to show her something. I did get her number, however.”

“That’s nice. You’ll have someone your age to talk to.”

“She’s actually two years younger than I am.”

“I see.”

Weiss excused herself, and went up to her room. The house was cozy, and had a welcoming atmosphere to it that made Weiss immediately feel at home. She looked out the window that faced Ruby’s house, seeing a brightly lit window on the first floor. In it, Ruby was sitting and eating next to her sister, who was laughing hysterically, and a man who was most likely their father, given the car in their driveway that was missing earlier. Upon realizing that she was spying on her newfound friend, Weiss looked away quickly.

Later, Weiss received a text message from Ruby. The ensuing conversation went as such:  
Ruby: hey it’s ruby :)  
Ruby: this is weiss, right?  
Weiss: Yes.  
Ruby: what’s up  
Weiss: Settling into the new house. What about you?  
Ruby: hiding from my family because my sister is teasing me  
Ruby: no cause for alarm i love my family btw  
Weiss: Oh? Why is she teasing you?  
Ruby: cause she thinks im gay  
Ruby: cause i gave you my number  
Weiss: Really? How immature.  
Ruby: tell me about it  
Ruby: shes not homophobic or anything shes actually gay shes just joking about my “ice queen” or whatever  
Weiss: The nerve…  
Ruby: wait, winter is your sis, right?  
Weiss: Yes.  
Ruby: no parents?  
Weiss: They’re out of the picture.  
Ruby: oh damn didnt mean to pry  
Ruby: sorry  
Weiss: Don’t worry about it.  
Ruby: my uncle is calling me i gotta go bye  
Weiss: Goodbye. :)

The smiley face was out of character, but it felt right to Weiss. While slightly disheartened that Ruby was apparently not into women, it wasn’t the end of the world. She was still a potential friend, and Weiss had a frustrating shortage of friends back in Atlas. And that was more than enough for Weiss. She fell back on her bed and let herself drift off to sleep, a smile on her face.

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At midnight, Winter peeked into Weiss’s room. She was fast asleep, and smiling. Winter smiled to herself, and went to her room. She opened her suitcase, drawing from it a leather-bound book about two inches thick, with yellowing pages. Winter went back to Weiss’s room, and opened the book to a page marked with a ribbon. After reading the text for a few minutes, Winter’s eyes began glowing a deep violet, as Weiss’s body became enveloped in a similar light. Satisfied, Winter went back to her room, stashed the book deep in her closet, and promptly fell into a deep sleep.

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Pyrrha Nikos was absolutely killing it right now.

Absolutely adored by her family, friends, peers, teachers, coaches, everyone. So many teenagers would want to be in her shoes. And yet…

And yet…

Something just wasn’t right with her. She didn’t quite know how to explain it. She also had no idea how it came about. All she knew was that no matter how many people told her how positive she was, no matter how much she laughed, Pyrrha felt empty. It was like someone had taken a knife and carved a hole in the middle of her chest, leaving behind a well for all of her inner negativity.

“Pyrrha?”

She looked up. She was at a pizza place, with Ruby, Yang, Blake, Jaune, Nora, Ren, and some new girl named Weiss who had moved in a couple of days ago. Weiss and Ruby were deep in conversation, and laughing at jokes that perhaps only the two of them would understand. It was only occasionally interrupted by Yang’s remarks about them being her “OTP,” eliciting a harsh string of what might be words from Weiss and nervous laughter from a blushing Ruby. And it was Yang speaking to her now.

“Yes?”

“Can you follow me for a second?”

Seeing no reason not to, Pyrrha got up and followed Yang outside, to the parking lot of the restaurant. Leaning against her car, Yang let out a sigh. She had thick blonde hair that fell to her waist that waved smoothly. Her eyes were focused on Pyrrha in a far more serious manner than normal, and a slight smile on her face fell as she asked in a neutral tone, “Are you… doing okay, Pyrrha?”

Pyrrha was fairly taken aback by the question. 'How did she know? Do the rest know? Oh God, do the rest know? How long have they known? Might as well answer honestly, seeing as I’ve been silent long enough that she won’t believe me if I say that I’m fine.'

“I’m not doing so great, Yang. I haven’t been for a while.” This is what Pyrrha planned on saying. What came out was:

“I…”

Yang understood fully. She walked forward, and wrapped her arms gently around Pyrrha. It wasn’t exactly the first hug Yang had given Pyrrha. But it was different from the norm. Instead of being presumably intended to crush the bones of anyone in her arms into a fine powder, it was clearly meant to say “I sincerely care about you and your well-being.”

And nobody understood it more than Pyrrha.

She returned the hug, at a nearly violent speed.

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Yang clearly remembered the exact circumstances under which she noticed that things were not well with Pyrrha.

It was a warm May afternoon, and she was walking to the school parking lot with some friends. While laughing at a joke Jaune made, she saw Pyrrha over his shoulder. She was sitting down behind a tree behind the lot in a way where nobody would be likely to notice her. Her legs were brought up to her chest, and she was gently rocking back and forth. Whether or not she was crying, Yang never found out. Nor did Yang go over to her. This guilt, for not politely stepping away from her friends and going over to her, hung over Yang’s head for three months. During that time, she paid close attention to Pyrrha. And she saw a false smile, outlined by dark green eyes without any highlights or tone. It was like somebody took an image of Pyrrha and pasted two pastel green circles over her irises. Looking at Pyrrha from across the table at the pizzeria, she knew what she had to do. And now, she stood holding Pyrrha, who was crushing Yang in a tight hug.

“Pyrrha.” She whispered in her ear. “Pyrrha, what’s going on?”

“I don’t know. I just don’t know.”

“Talk me through it.”

“It’s… hard to explain. It just feels like a giant weight inside of me. I don’t know if that makes sense, but I’ve just felt like something there in me that holds me down for the longest time.”

“I get it.”

They stood there like this for a few minutes, until Yang broke away, saying “We should probably get back before they start worrying about us.”

As they walked inside, Pyrrha grabbed Yang’s hand.

“Can we please keep this between us? I don’t want anyone to worry about me.”

“No problem! I’ll text you later, okay?”

Pyrrha smiled, letting go of Yang.

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The rest of the evening went by in a blur. Ruby, Weiss, Yang, and Nora ended up in a heated argument over whether or not Ruby and Weiss were actually a couple. Jaune, Ren, and Blake sat and discussed the Freudian symbolism or something in Neon Genesis Evangelion. All the while, Pyrrha felt… uneven. On the one hand, she now knew that Yang was willing to help her. She wasn’t really surprised, knowing Yang, but it still meant untold amounts to her. On the other hand, Pyrrha felt guilty. 'She doesn’t need to worry about me.' She knew it was Yang’s choice to lend Pyrrha her shoulder, but wasn’t sure if she was worth it. Looking up, she saw Yang glance over at her and smile. But Yang thinks I’m worth it. And maybe that was enough for now.

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Yang went straight to her room after dropping off Blake. Her father was working late, and Ruby was sleeping over at Weiss’s place. Pulling out her phone, she went to text Pyrrha, resulting in the following conversation:  
Yang: hey pyrrha how you holding up  
Pyrrha: I’m feeling ok  
Pyrrha: I can’t thank you enough for all of this  
Yang: no problem im happy to help  
Yang: just remember im always going to be here  
Pyrrha: I know. This all feels unreal to me  
Yang: why?  
Pyrrha: I never thought anyone knew how bad I felt  
Yang: i don’t think the others know i just had a feeling about it.  
Yang: what about your parents?  
Pyrrha: if my mom knows, she hasn’t said anything  
Yang: you need to tell them  
Pyrrha: I know. I’m going to get some sleep. Good night, and thank you again for everything.  
Yang: no problem. sweet dreams.

Yang was worried about Pyrrha. It was clear that this was more than something trivial, or a series of bad days. No, this was something deeply set in her very being. It wouldn't just be a few minutes hugging her in some parking lot and a few text messages to heal her. And it killed Yang to see her friend hurt like this. She figured she might as well go to bed, at this point, willing to do whatever it would take to help Pyrrha.

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“I put a blood protection spell on Weiss the other night.”

“That’s incredibly irresponsible. What if something happens to her and she finds out she can’t be harmed?”

“But the Maiden is-”

“We can handle the Maiden! Look at how long Ruby and Yang and Tai have been here, and… ah, shit.”

Ruby had only gotten up at Weiss’s house to get a drink of water. She had heard muffled voices coming from downstairs, clearly arguing. Upon further investigation, she saw Winter, and also her uncle Qrow, who noticed her quickly.

“Wh-What’s going on? What did you do to Weiss? What are you doing here, Qrow?”

Qrow and Winter looked at each other nervously. Winter sighed defeatedly, as Qrow said “Go upstairs and get Weiss. I suppose we don’t have a choice now but to explain everything.”


	2. Chapter 2

Weiss was groggy.

She was deep asleep, Ruby on an air mattress by the side of her bed, and all of a sudden, Ruby is shaking her awake saying that she “needs to follow her now, Winter and my uncle say it’s important.”

“Wha… What is… Ruby, it’s two in the morning…”

“Weiss, please follow me.”

It was Winter speaking now, and a messy-looking dark-haired man with a leather jacket and patchy goatee was standing beside her at the doorway.

She got up, and followed the others into the basement. Winter flicked the lights on, revealing a wall of cardboard boxes. Winter moved a stack of them aside, revealing a trapdoor. Opening it showed only pitch blackness. “After you,” said Winter, gesturing to the man, who smelled of whiskey.

“My pleasure,” said the man, climbing into the door quickly.

Winter then turned to the teenagers. “Both of you, follow him.” Ruby climbed in slowly, completely disappearing from sight. Weiss was nervous about the endeavor, and called out, “Ruby? Are you alright? What’s down there?”

Ruby’s voice called back, “I’m okay, Weiss. This place… wow. You gotta come down.”

Weiss gulped, and sat on the edge of the trapdoor, legs hanging in. She let herself fall, only to be met with solid ground after a short drop. While the trapdoor opening was still visible, it was now suspended some 20 feet in the air, which was far higher than Weiss had dropped, confusing her. “Weiss, can you see all of this? It’s insane.”

Ruby was doubtlessly referring to the fact that they were apparently standing upon thin air. Below them was more of the pitch black endlessness that they saw on the trapdoor entrance. Torches were posted on invisible walls, illuminating bookshelves crammed with books bound by leather.

“I suppose you’re both wondering how this is possible.”

Weiss turned around, revealing that Winter had descended. Weiss replied, “What is this place?”

The scruffy man spoke next. “This is a place beyond the physical plane, the Void. While media is fond of the term ‘astral plane,’ that is an entirely different place. I’m Qrow Branwen, by the way. Ruby’s uncle, and I was stationed with your sister in Vacuo.” He reached out for a handshake.

Weiss absentmindedly shook his hand. Winter spoke clearly. “He should have clarified; magic is real. He and I are both magic users, called mages. Ruby walked in on us talking about it, and we figured we have no choice but to teach you both how to use it now. If you have any questions, now is the time to ask.”

Ruby enthusiastically asked, “Is anyone else in my family a mage?”

Qrow replied, “Your mother was a mage, as is Raven. Tai knows magic exists, but is not a practicing mage. Yang doesn’t know.”

Weiss pondered the implications of this sentence. ‘Was? Does that mean Ruby’s mother is dead? And who is this Raven character? Is she Yang’s mother? I know Yang is only her half-sister, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that. Ruby’s family life is so messed up.’ Her thoughts were interrupted by Ruby asking, “Winter, you said you put a blood spell on Weiss. What does that mean?”

Winter stated, “I put a blood protection spell on Weiss. It’s a powerful protection spell that will protect the target from any potentially lethal form of harm for as long as the caster is alive. However, it can only be cast on a relative close to the caster by blood.”

“Qrow, can I get one of those?”

“Sorry, kiddo. We aren’t closely related by blood.”

“Aww…”

Weiss now had even more questions. ‘So, her uncle isn’t a blood relative? How does that work? Dammit, just when I thought I might have Ruby’s family figured out.’ She had a question of her own that she decided to ask, feeling like it was probably the most important question to ask.

“How do we cast magic?”

Qrow chuckled. “Depends on the magic. Sometimes it needs the direct aid of a book. Sometimes, it needs body movements. Sometimes, it’s as simple as remembering some runes and concentrating on their image for a moment. And then there’s the really fucked up spells, curses, which call for the physical harm of the caster.”

“What do those do?”

“There’s one that calls for a limb to be made sliced off of the caster, with the effect of the desired target’s limbs painfully rotting as they live through it.”

“On second thought, no more of those spells,” Weiss said, sounding slightly disgusted.

Ruby then piped up, practically chirping with enthusiasm. “Can you show us any spells? Just for kicks?” It was clear that she was in absolute awe over their situation.

Winter became stern. “Magic uses physical energy. The more you use it, the less it affects you, but it’s still safer not to waste it on menial tasks. For instance, if one of you were to try a blood protection spell or a curse, it would likely put you in a coma.”

Qrow chimed in. “Ah, lighten up, Ice Queen (Winter scowled furiously at Qrow at this). You and I are experienced mages, we can show them something. For instance…” Qrow spread his arms wide, closed his eyes, and in a fraction of a second, morphed into a small black bird. This had the desired effect, as Weiss and Ruby had a shared expression of shock and disbelief. Just as quickly as he had transformed, he turned back. “That, you guys, is a transformation spell. It’s a small animal, so turning into the bird isn’t too much trouble. Turning back is the kicker. I used to have to wait the whole day until I was at a point where I could rest to turn back.”

“Woah.” Ruby’s mouth hung slightly open, clearly in complete awe of her uncle’s action. “What kind of spells do we learn?”

“That depends on what kind of spells you want to learn. But there are a ton of options for that, so I’d say we’d better call it a night. To go back to the physical plane, just go through that door.” Qrow pointed to a door near one of the bookshelves.

They went through the door, and found themselves in the basement besides the trapdoor. No doorway was present in the basement, and Ruby and Weiss became suddenly aware of just how tired they both were. They made their way up to Weiss’s room, and Ruby immediately crashed on the air mattress. Weiss was too bewildered to fall asleep. ‘I’m going to learn how to use magic? More importantly, magic exists? How did I never notice this before? I can’t be killed until Winter is killed? That’s reassuring, but what if something happens to Winter? No, that won’t happen. That can't happen. Even is someone tries to kill her, she’s a military veteran and powerful mage. She’ll be fine.’

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The day after the pizza place, Yang had a plan.

Her plan was simple: invite Pyrrha over to her place to hang out. From there, just do whatever she wanted to do. Nothing she couldn’t handle, right?

So why was it so difficult for Yang to just pick up the phone and give her a call?

Was it because it wasn’t situationally appropriate? Maybe. After all, it would essentially give the message, “I know you’re depressed beyond words, but wanna come over and have a good time?” But then again, to only ever talk about her depression would be monotonous, and it couldn’t possibly take that long to discuss, right? Yang wasn’t entirely sure. The only thing to do was to invite Pyrrha over and see what happens, and use that as guidelines for what to do and say in the future. She took out her phone, went to contacts, and tapped on the Dial icon near Pyrrha’s name. It rang a few times, before Pyrrha picked up.

“Hello?” It was impossible to tell what Pyrrha was feeling based on her greeting. It was clear that she was experienced in the field of concealing emotions.

“Hey, Pyrrha, what’s up?” Yang put on her most pleasant tone of voice, trying to appear as welcoming as possible.

“Nothing much today.”

Perfect.

“You wanna come and hang out at my place?”

“Sure! When should I come over?”

“Any time you want.”

“Okay, I’ll be right over. See you in a few minutes.”

“See ya.” Yang hung up, pumping her fist in the air and laughing to herself.

Ruby knocked on her door. “Yang? What’s so funny?”

“Nothing! Just me being an idiot as usual. Also, Pyrrha’s coming over.”

About ten minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Yang practically jumped down the stairs to get the door, opening it to Pyrrha, whose auburn hair wasn’t pulled back in its usual ponytail. Rather, it fell down just above her elbows, acting as a sort of curtain for her upper body. She wore a grey t-shirt and track shorts.

“Damn, Pyrrha, love what you did with your hair,” Yang chirped.

Pyrrha smiled. “Thank you,” she replied, sounding slightly embarrassed.

Yang grinned and said, “Follow me.” They went around the staircase to another set of stairs, this one leading to the basement. In the basement, there was a fabric couch, a flat-screen TV, and several game consoles. A mini-fridge sat next to the TV, along with a stack of video game boxes. She turned around to face Pyrrha. “So,” she said with an airy tone, “how are you feeling?” As she spoke, her voice turned more serious.

Pyrrha hesitated a bit before answering. “Um… I mean, I still don’t feel great, but I guess it’s not going too badly. Besides, if it’s okay, I’d rather just hang out for now.”

Yang was okay with this. While it would be a problem if Pyrrha consistently dismissed her emotions, just hanging around and doing whatever would be good for her. Especially if she was feeling better than before.

Yang smiled. “No problem. What do you want to do?”

Pyrrha sat on the couch. “Well, you’ve clearly got a lot of video games. I haven’t really played very many games, and I suppose I’d like to try some new ones.”

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Pyrrha was apparently pretty good at Portal 2.

They had been playing for hours on end. It was a game of cooperation, after all. Years of softball, soccer, and lacrosse had conditioned her to cooperate with others, and Yang had been on her softball team for years. This meant that the two were also used to working with one another, and were able to apply this to the game. They both laughed at the mistakes the two of them made, the roundabout methods of trolling each other with switches, and the game’s dialogue. Pyrrha also noticed something else entirely: she was distracted from her misery. Sure, it would doubtlessly return in spades later, but for now, Pyrrha was able to legitimately enjoy herself for what felt like the first time in ages. She knew that it was because she was in an environment where she could be herself without judgement. For all of Yang’s dirty jokes, horrible puns, and general teasing, she cared deeply about her friends. And Pyrrha couldn’t be happier for it.

She was sitting right beside Yang on the couch, at about an arm’s length away. Looking at her, she seemed to radiate positivity. Golden hair casually swept over her shoulders, calm lavender eyes, brilliant smile, Pyrrha felt more secure around her.

“Pyrrha.” Yang spoke suddenly, breaking Pyrrha’s thoughts. Pausing the game, she asked, “I’m going to get some chips. Want some?”

“No, but thank you for asking.” Pyrrha replied politely. Yang got up, walking over to the corner of the room.

“Can you keep a secret?”

Pyrrha’s heart started racing. What secret could Yang Xiao Long possibly be hiding?

“If I step on this floorboard, it tips up, lifting this corner of the carpet, and revealing underneath… Ta-da!” She pulled a bag of chips out of the floorboards. “My secret stash. I found the need for it after my dad kept eating all of the barbeque ones and… huh. Can’t believe I never noticed this before.”

Pyrrha’s relief at finding out that Yang’s secret was trivial (she should have known, she now realized) was quickly replaced with intrigue. Yang didn’t seem like the kind of person to be easily surprised, so she must have stumbled upon something major.

As Pyrrha walked over, Yang said (while holding up the carpet), “There’s a trapdoor under here. I never noticed it before. Guess it was hidden behind the rug. I’m gonna see what’s down there. Wish me luck."

Before Pyrrha could object, the blonde had already opened the trapdoor and swung her legs in. Yang gave a thumbs-up before jumping into the hole. Pyrrha looked down after her, and saw pitch blackness. Seeing no reason not to, she climbed in carefully, and landed in a room nearly identical to the one Ruby and Weiss had found themselves in last night. There was one key difference, however, one that managed to divert the pair from their amazement at being able to stand upon thin air. The bookshelves on the walls were arranged in a circular pattern, and in the center of it all was an ornate wooden table. On it lay candles, and a large portrait of a woman who looked like Ruby, but older.

“Yang?” Pyrrha asked nervously.

“Yeah?” Yang sounded equally shaky.

“Who is that?”

“Summer Rose.” Both girls jumped at this, for it was not one of them who said it. Turning around, they saw the anxious-looking face of Taiyang Xiao Long.

He spoke again. “Her name was Summer Rose.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Basically, I'm separating the Ruby/Weiss segments and the Yang/Pyrrha segments, but that won't last very long.
> 
> More importantly, I would really appreciate it if you could leave a comment with any feedback, no matter how negative. I want my work to improve, for the sake of you guys and my own sake.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> The_finest_pumpkins


	3. Chapter 3

Yang was confused.

“Dad? What is this place? Why is there a picture of Mom? How does any of this make sense?”

Taiyang sighed. “I’m so sorry, Yang. I’m so, so, sorry. I made a promise to Qrow after Summer died that I would keep this from you and Ruby. But I guess there’s no avoiding it now.” He took a deep breath. “Magic is real. Qrow knows how to use it. Your mother knew how, as did Summer. I don’t. This all began when Rav- your mother was pregnant with you, when Qrow came back from a tour in Vacuo knowing how to turn into a bird.”

Yang still didn’t understand. Why had they kept this from her? It was right beneath her chip stash the whole time? Why didn’t Qrow tell her? She felt betrayed. And Pyrrha… She was just coming over to hang out and play video games. She didn’t need to get dragged into her family’s problems because of a stupid trapdoor. She could only imagine how her friend felt right now.

“What is this place?”

“It’s a place called the Void. It bends to the shape that whoever occupies it needs. This here is exactly how Summer left it before she died, except for the painting. I have that as a sort of tribute to her memory.”

“But… why don’t… did Summer… did Summer die because of magic?”

“Probably. We don’t know the exact circumstances under which she died, though.”

“Dad, you told us it was an aneurysm. This… this changes everything. I don’t want anything to do with this. Why? Who would have killed her?”

“A mage who we called the Maiden. We don’t know who else could possibly killed her. It couldn’t have been any of her lackeys, they weren’t nearly powerful enough. The Maiden, though… the Maiden was crazily powerful. Like a goddess, basically. And she was trying to do something… terrible. So we did everything we could to stop her. And it looked like we did, for a while. But then, Summer died and we were back to square one.”

“So you just gave up? How could you?! After Mom died and everything, you and Qrow just gave up?!”

Yang was visibly angry now, her hands clenched into fists. Tears were forming in her eyes, and they were starting to look red.

“Of we didn’t give up! Qrow has been doing anything he can trying to find information on the Maiden. And Winter, the new neighbor? Winter knows magic, too. Qrow learned the craft alongside her in Vacuo. She can help us. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if… Weiss, was it? Her sister?... is a mage, too. But all I can do is beg you; please don’t follow in their footsteps. You have a long life ahead of you. Don’t throw it away over this.”

“Fuck that. I’m going to learn how to use magic, and I’m going to kill the Maiden if it’s the last thing I do. If you won’t learn it, then I will.”

Pyrrha suddenly spoke. “So will I.”

They both turned to look at the redhead, who was silent up until this point. She looked determined, and Yang was surprised to see a fiery glare in her eyes. Turning to Yang, Pyrrha stepped closer to Yang and said in a low voice, “Hanging out with you like this is the happiest I’ve been in years. I know it won’t be fun and games, but I want to help you. It’s the least I can do to repay you. You don’t need to go through this alone.”

Yang furrowed her brow. “Pyrrha… I couldn’t… no. I’m sorry, but I can’t risk your life because of my family. You don’t need to repay me, either. You don’t owe me anything.”

Pyrrha placed a hand on her shoulder. “Yang… Trust me. I want to help you.”

Yang grinned, chuckling a little. “You really aren’t going to let me hunt down the Maiden myself, are you?”

Pyrrha smiled. “Nope.”

Yang’s grin became a smile. “Fine. I guess you’re coming with me. You’re right anyways, I can’t do it alone.”

She turned to face her father, still smiling, while pulling Pyrrha in a one-armed hug. “We’re going to kill the Maiden, Dad. But how do we learn magic?”

“Leave that to us.” A new voice spoke clearly, as a few people clearly hit the ground behind the trio.

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Taiyang was shocked. They had all turned around, only to see Qrow (who had just spoken), Winter, Ruby, and Weiss.

“Qrow? What are you doing here? Why did you bring Ruby?”

“Don’t worry, Tai, she already knows. Back when Summer died, you went down here a lot. So I placed an enchantment on your Void Portal to let me know who goes down here at any time, so I could make sure you didn’t do any crazy shit. I brought these three with me because these two (he gestured to Yang and Pyrrha) went down here. And here we are.”

“What about Ruby?”

“She walked in on Winter and I talking about the Maiden last night. So, we decided to teach them a thing or two about magic.”

“So, now all four of them are at risk?”

“Yup. That’s why we’re teaching them, isn’t it? So they can protect themselves and one another from magical threats?”

Taiyang sighed. Qrow was right. It would be safer if the girls learned magic. The one problem he could think of was Pyrrha. Not that he didn’t like Pyrrha or anything. On the contrary, she was always polite (even if she was perhaps a little distant) and got along well with both of his daughters. It was just that she didn’t have a reason to fight. As far as he knew, her family contained no mages. Pyrrha was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. And it was entirely possible that she could die for it.

He turned to the redhead. “We’ll be eating dinner in a few hours. You wanna stay for dinner?”

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Pyrrha was far more calm than she probably should be right now.

Not only did she just learn that magic is real, but she just agreed to help Yang kill an extremely powerful mage who killed her mother. She agreed to help kill another human being! Granted, it was for Yang, and it was a truly terrible person (from what she had heard). Still, it was an absolute miracle that she didn’t completely feel like shit over it.

And this burger was delicious.

She was eating dinner on the patio of the Rose-Xiao Long household. They ended up having a cookout, and Taiyang made burgers. She knew he could cook from before, but this burger was on another level entirely. Looking around, she saw everyone engaged in some action that perfectly described them. Qrow was sitting next to Winter across from Pyrrha, and laughing hysterically as she scowled at him furiously. Yang was sitting next to Pyrrha, and eating a burger while giving the occasional chuckle or eye-roll towards Qrow and Winter. Taiyang was over at the grill making more burgers. Ruby was in the yard, playing with the family dog (a corgi named Zwei). Weiss was with her, and happily playing with the corgi (after avoiding direct contact with the dog for five minutes on end).

Pyrrha felt a little uncomfortable. Sure, she was surrounded by good people with good intentions, but she just felt out of place. She should interact with them, but it just felt awkward to join in on a conversation. Yang wasn’t talking to anyone, so Pyrrha should probably talk to her, right? Come and think of it, there were a few things that Pyrrha needed to discuss with her friend. She leaned closer to her, and said in a low voice, “Yang? Can I talk to you inside for a second?”

“Absolutely.”

They went inside to the kitchen. Yang jumped up and sat on the counter, while Pyrrha stood. It was remarkable how this resembled the pizzeria parking lot. Somehow, this felt more open to the redhead.

“Yang, I’m so sorry about your mother.”

“Don’t be.” Yang's face fell considerably, her eyes glazing over. “It hurts, yeah. It really fucking hurts to know that someone killed her. She might not have been my biological mother, but she was still the best mother I could possibly asked for. My biological mother left my dad and I when I was a year old. Summer married Dad, had Ruby, and the rest is history. And I saw Ruby sort of fall apart when Summer died, and it killed me to see my sister like that.” She blinked hard, suddenly appearing determined. “And that’s why I gotta kill the Maiden. She picked the wrong mother to kill.”

Pyrrha was shocked. She had never heard anyone with such a happy personality sound so sad. “Yang… I’m here for you. Always. It would be hypocritical of me to stay distant, after all of your support.”

Yang smiled. “Thank you, Pyrrha. That means a lot to me, y’know?”

Pyrrha felt blood rising to her ears. “It- It’s no problem, really.”

Yang jumped down from the counter, and walked over to Pyrrha. Again mirroring the pizzeria, she embraced the redhead in a hug. ”One more thing,” she said. “Do you need a ride home soon?”

“Oh, I should probably get going soon.”

“C’mon. I’ll drive you home.”

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Ruby was enjoying herself.

Ruby and Weiss were laying on the grass with Zwei cuddled up to Weiss while Yang and Pyrrha went inside. Ruby looked over at her new friend, who was focused intently on the small dog. She rolled over a little, now facing the white-haired girl. “Weiss?” Ruby tentatively asked.

“Yes, Ruby?”

“Can I call you Snow Angel?”

Weiss’s eyes widened, as her face turned white, then red, then a funny shade of purple. “You absolutely may not! Why do you have to take after your sister in ways like- Aaaaagh!”

Ruby was doubled over laughing, struggling for breath, while Zwei looked at the new girl with a look of abject confusion. “Oh, Weiss, you’re such a tsundere!” she managed to say between gasps for air.

“What is a tsundere?” Weiss’s forehead was covered by her hand, and her face was back down to being red.

Ruby had calmed down. She replied with a tone of good humor, “A tsundere is a girl, typically in anime, but sometimes in real life, (she motioned to Weiss at this) who will act cold to people in response to teasing and joking around, but secretly cares for them.”

Weiss sighed. “Ruby…”

“Yes, Weiss?”

“I value our friendship.”

“Aww, Weiss…”

Ruby moved over and hugged Weiss, pressing her cheek to the side of her friend’s head. Weiss did not react at all, but simply said, “Now I’m not a tsundere.”

“What?” Ruby sounded intrigued.

“I- I mean- I can’t be a tsundere if you know I care about you, can I?”

Ruby smiled and nuzzled the side of Weiss’s head, closing her eyes. She didn’t notice, but Weiss smiled to herself.

About this time, Yang and Pyrrha walked out of the house. Yang saw the two of them as they walked to her car saying, “Aww, look at the happy couple. They’re such cute lesbians.”

Ruby blushed, and she could feel Weiss’s face heat up considerably as well. As Weiss stood up to yell at Yang, Ruby went after her, hoping that maybe she could calm her down.

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Pyrrha was looking to be alone.

When Pyrrha got home, she went to her room immediately. She lay on her bed, simply trying to absorb the overhaul of information. All of a sudden, there was a knock on the door. Immediately, Pyrrha felt the elation from earlier completely leave her, leaving the hole in her now gaping and ready to fill itself with negative emotions. Before she could get the door, her mother entered the room. She was the splitting image of her daughter, save for a more formal, trimmed appearance. This included a pantsuit, high heels, and shorter hair pulled in a bun. She immediately looked at Pyrrha. “Did you go out with your hair like that?”

“Yes, Mom.”

“Without telling me?”

“Yes, Mom.”

“Why didn’t you consult me before changing your appearance?”

“I didn’t think it would matter if I-”

“Of course it matters! What if, God forbid, you go out looking like a whore, and somebody from work notices that my daughter is a slut?! What happens to my reputation then?! You don’t care at all about me do you? You really don’t.”

“I just went a couple blocks away to Yang’s.”

“Oh, so you’re still hanging around that blonde? I knew she was a bad influence from the moment I saw her. I don’t know why I give you all of this freedom.”

“Mom, I just let my hair down.”

“First it’s the hair, then the top gets shorter, then it’s only a matter of time before you’re getting tattoos and piercings and leaving the house half-naked! My own daughter…”

“Mom, please, can I just get some privacy?”

“What, so you can sneak out? I don’t think so. From now on, I watch you leave the house, and make sure you look proper. No exceptions. Do I make myself clear?”

Pyrrha lowered her voice. “Yes, Mom.”

She knew it was no use arguing. Her mother had been like this for as long as she could remember, constantly screaming at her for minor instances of what she saw as disrespect. She knew it was a significant cause, if not the sole cause, of her depression. But she never dreamed of telling Yang. She was too anxious about telling her before the subject of magic came to light, and now Yang’s problems with her mother seemed a lot worse than hers. She was determined to help Yang through her problems, no matter how bad she felt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize that it took so long, I really wanted to polish Yang's interactions with Pyrrha.
> 
> Anyway, please leave criticism and feedback. I want my work to improve for everyone's sake.
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> The_finest_pumpkins


	4. Chapter 4

Hey, I just wanted to give an update to this because I've been away for a while. I'm far from done with this, I've just been busy with school and such. I would also like to apologize for the name, as I feel like it doesn't represent the majority of White Rose fics, which tend to be some of the most original fanfics I've ever read.

Also, for anybody reading this, I would love to know what I can do better for future chapters. Thank you all for reading, and have a nice day.


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